Dredging-machine



4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

H. B. HERB.

DREDGING MACHINE.

Patented July 26, 1887.

9 @w B S um INVEDTTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. B. HERE. DREDGING MACHINE.

No. 367,040. Patented July 26, 1887.

F69. Z. 1 $7 "Mn .5

WITNESSES: INVENTOR BYi ATTORNEY N. PETERS Pmwulhogm nu. Wnhinglnn. D: C u

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

H. B. HERB. S

DREDGING MACHINE.

No. 367,040. Patented July 26, 1887.

SK'TLMSSQRW WITNESSES INVENTOR BY j v ATTORNEY (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

H. B. HERB.

D'REDGING MACHINE.

No. 367,040. Patented July 26, 1887.

' 5 K WITNESSES v UVVE/VTOR OZ %WW mam/M .9ho.% I By Attorney N. PtTina-Phnwmm m mr, wahin mn. DJ;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HIERO B. HERB, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DREDGING- MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 367,040, dated July 26, 1887.

Application filed September 19, 1894. Serial No. 142,415v

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HIERO B. Helm, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dredging Machines and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a dredging-wheel for dredging-machines, the depth of whose excavation is regulated by ex hausting or supplying air to suitable chambers made in said wheel, which come below the W21tQ1-11lLlk Wl1Gll the wheel is in operation, and the operation of which is rapid and thorough.

This invention consists of alarge wheel having its circumference covered with sheet metal, on which are arranged several series of shovels or cutters, which as the wheel revolves dig into the sand, gravel, or mud and shovel it up through holes made in said metal cover near the base or head of said cutters into suitable receptacles, which carry the waste soil to the top of the wheel and then automatically deposit it through the sluices in the side of the wheel into a hopper. These dirt-receptacles are divided at about the transverse center of the wheel, and have their bottoms dip outward from said point to the sides of the same. Between each of these receptacles and the one next adjacent in their circular order are arranged a series of transverse tubes, which may be filled with air or water, as desired, to increase or decrease the buoyancy of the wheel, and thus regulate the depth to which it shall excavate, substantially as hereinafter fully de scribed, and asillustrated in the drawings, in which- Figure'l is a side elevation of my dredging wheel with the sluiceopening mechanism omitted on some of the mud-chambers. Fi 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 isa transverse section of the wheel, showing the construction of the mud-receptacles. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the wheel, showing the construction and arrangement of the air-tubes. Fi 5 is a detail view, and Fig. 6 is a plan (No model.)

View showing the manner in which the dredge is drawn forward.

In the drawings, A A represent horizontal beams extending parallel to each other from either side of the stern of the dredging-boat, which are re-enl'orced by frames composed of vertical ca, horizontal aa, and diagonal irons, as shown in Fig. 1.

Near the outer ends of the beams A A are suitable bearings for the axle B of the dredg ing-wheel. This dredging-wheel consists of a suitable number of arms, I), radiating from a suitable boss, I), made fast to the axle. The outer portions of these arms are considerably wider than the inner, and are provided with a number of suitable circular openings for the reception of the air-tubes 0. There are three sets of these arms bto wit, one on each side and one in the transverse center of the wheel, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. They are connected at their outer ends and covered by a sheetunetal cylindrical cover D, and they support and sustain in the circular openings above mentioned the tubes 0. These tubes 0 are of different diameters and are provided in the heads closing them with valves or openings 0, provided with screw-plugs, which can be opened or closed at pleasure, so as to supply them with or empty the water from them, and either increasing their buoyancy, thus lifting the wheel and decreasing the depth of their excavations, or sinking them deeper and increasing the depth of said excavations. Placed (in reference to the plane of revolution) between these enlarged outer ends of the arms I) are the mud-chambers E E, divided at the transverse center of the wheel, at which point their bottoms touch or are in close proximity to the sheet-metal cover D. From this point the said bottoms d incline inward toward the axle B and outward toward the sides of the wheel, so that the mud accumulated in these chambers may, as the wheel revolves and said chambers are lifted out of the water, gravitate to the outer sides of the wheel, where they will, when the chambers are carried to a vertical position, be discharged through the sluiecs E E, which are at that point automatically opened by means which will be hereinafter more fully explained.

In the rim or cover D are openings 0 c, and projecting from said cover, to which they are preferably permanently secured in such position as to surround and discharge their contents into said openings 0, are the shovels or cutters F. There are arranged on the periphery of the wheel as many transverse rows or series of these cutters as there are mudchambers, and the individual cutters F of each se: ries are arranged in such a manner that what: ever area of the surface is being excavated or dredged,ifone series of cutters does not cut into it, some cutter of the following series will. If desired, there may be arranged, in a circumferential line in front of thesecutters F, one or more colters, f, which when the soil is of hard clayey nature will be found very useful in loosening the soil for the cutters F. On the V periphery of the wheel, projecting at regular intervals from the cover D, are sprockets 9, through the medium of which and the chain belt G the wheel is driven.

As has before been mentioned, when the mud-chambers revolve to a vertical position, the sluices E open automatically to discharge the contents of said chambers. The sluices are made in the sides ofthe mud-chambers at the end nearest the center of the wheel, and are hinged or pivoted at their end which is farthest from the center of the wheel to lugs extending from the side walls of said mudchambers. In order that this sluice may open and close automatically, I journal in the brackets h h, extending from the side walls of chamber E in front of said sluice, a shaft, h.

Fast to and inclining in against the sluice E, below the pivotal point thereof, is a brake, H, consisting of a yoke-shaped'frame. To the parallel arms of this brake are pivoted the links 13 t, the upper ends of which are pivoted to the lower end of a vertically-reciprocating rod, I, which latter moves in suitable guides secured to the sides of mud-chamber. The upper end of this rod I is turned laterally outward, and has bearings for a friction-roller, I, which, as the wheel revolves and it approaches a vertical position out of the water, strikes against and travels over a track, J, so shaped and curved that the rod I is forced radially outward, thus lifting the brake from the sluice E, and permitting the mud, &c., in the chamber E, by reason of its weight, to open said sluice and be discharged into a hopper, K.

The track J is secured to the rear vertical iron beams, to, and is designed to engage the friction-rollers I as they revolve with the mudchambers,which they areidentified with, and through the medium of said friction-rollers and-the rods I to remove the brake II from against the sluice E, and to keep said brake H thus removed while the waste dirt is being discharged from the mudchamber through said sluices. As the friction-roller continues to revolve and leaves the track J, it will (after a short distance is passed) strike against a guide, 70, the engaging surface of which faces the revolving center of the wheel, which will return said friction-roller and the rod to their original position and restore said brake H to its normal position. against the sluice.

In order to prevent the sluice, by reason of the pressure of the contents of the mud-chamber bearing against it, from operating the brake H, rod I, &c., and opening independently to discharge the contents of the mud-.

chamber as it leaves the water and revolves to a vertical position, I secure to one of the guides of the rod I, near its outer end, a flat spring, m, the inner end of which is turned laterally in toward the rod I, and is adapted to enter a notch, n, when said rod is in its origi nal position. This looks the rod I during the greater part of the revolution of the wheel. In order to release the rod, that it may be subjectto the action of the friction-roller on the track J, I extend laterally outward from the end of said spring an arm, N, which has its outer end turned upward; (or outward,) and which is engaged and drawn outward by'a cam-surface made on the inner surface of the track J. This cam-surface releases the rod before it is affected by the action of the friction-roller I, and it automatically drops into the notch n in the rod I, when said rod is restored by the guide to itsnormal position.

The hopper K is secured to the rear vertical beam, (1, in such'position that its mouth is just below the sluice when the latter is dis charging its contents. It is placed between said beams and the sides of the wheel, which latter, it will be noticed, are set in away from the vertical plane of the circumferential edges of the wheel, in order to make room forthe same, the track H, and guide k, &c. to obtain this formation of the sides of the wheel, I set the outer widened portions of the arms b at an obtuse angle to the inner portions; and here it might be mentioned that while it is not absolutely necessary to cast the inner and outer portions of the said arms separately, yet it might be desirable, in view of the difficulty of casting such a large body. In this event the two parts could have their adjacent edges flanged and riveted together, as shown.

In order to propel my dredging-whee1,I find a couple of good anchorages,or make a couple, some distance ahead of the dredges and connect them to the ship by means of suitable cables or hawsers, It. These cables pass between the concave guidewrollers o 0, journaled in suitable straps on the end of the beams A, which project beyond the bearings of the axle B. Then they are made to take a couple of turns around the concave drums]? on the contiguous ends of the axle between the bearings'and the bosses b b, and then they travel to the deck of the dredging-boat, where they are wound around suitable capstans, S, which are managed by a couple of deck-hands, who can, by making the cable taut or slack, guide the directionthe dredging-wheel may take.

In order that as the wheel revolves and the cutters shovel the mud, &c., up into the mud- In order chambers too much water may not accumulate in said chambers, I make in the cover D circular or rectangular apertures q q, out of which the water will flow, leaving only sufficient water, with mud, &c., to wash the latter out, and so that as it is discharged into the hopper, and from the latter carried to the boat or loaded into scows moored alongside of the diedgerv'heel, the mass may be'easily managed.

If desired, I do not deem it a departure from my invention to surround the rod I with a coilexpansion spring, one end of which will be secured to the rod and the other press against one of the eyes or guides through which said rod passes. Thus,\vhen the rod is drawn radially outward, by means of the friction-roller I and track H, the spring will be compressed, and when the roller 1 leaves the track, the eX pansion of said spring will return the rod to its normal position and thus tightly close the sluice. Concerning the brake which bears against the sluice, it desired a friction roll or rollers may bejournaled on that part of said brake that presses against the sluice, so as to cause less friction. However, if desired, the form of brake may be dispensed with altogether and a cam arm be secured to shaft h, which will bear tightly against the sluice and serve identically thesame purpose as the brakeframe.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. In a dredging-machine, a dredging-wheel having means for excavating, hermeticallysealed chambers suitablyarranged therein, and valves or openings for discharging water therefrom or feeding water thereto for the purpose of increasing or decreasing the buoyancy of said wheel.

2. A dredging wheel having transverse mud-chambers arranged within its periphery, which latter are divided at about the transverse center of the wheel contiguous to the periphery thereof, from which point their bottoms inclineradially inward toward the axle and outward toward the sides of the wheel, and having several series of shovels, each series being arranged transversely on its periphery with reference to said mud chambers, into which, as the wheel revolves, they deposit their accumulations.

3. The combination, in a dredging wheel havinga sheetmetal circumferential covering, of the shovels or cutters arranged 011 the periphery of the wheel, mud-chambers made within said wheel, into which the shovels empty their contents through suitable apertures in said sheet-inetal covering, with airchambers arranged alternately between said mud chambers and having valves in their heads, whereby they can be filled with or emptied of water, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4c. The combination, in a dredging-wheel, of the mud chambers and slnices, whereby the contents of said chambers are emptied when in a vertical position, with the means for keeping said sluices closed when in any other position, consisting ofa brake, links, reciprocating rod, and spring having its end turned laterally inward and adapted to enter a notch in said reciprocating rod, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the dredge-wheel having cutters, as described, on its periphery, and mud-ehambers arranged within its circumference adapted to receive the products collected by said shovels, of the drums on the axles of said wheel, tow ropes or cables, and means, as described, for taking up the slack of said cable, as set forth.

6. A dredgingwheel having several series ofshovels arranged transvei'ely on its periphery, radiating colters in front of said shovels, and mud-chambers arranged within its circumference which are connected with and adapted to receive the products collected by said shovels.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own Ihereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HIERO B. HERE.

Witnesses:

James H. COYNE, FRANK D. TIIOMASON. 

